Unusual gifts benefit Ohio State's mission

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Carrie Ghose

Dr. Scot Bertolo already had decided to name his solo practice Urban Podiatry when he found a North High Street office for rent in Clintonville. When he found an old sign in the attic, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. It read, “Dr. J.P. Urban.”

He learned the former medical office and house next door had been willed to Ohio State University by the doctor’s first wife, Mildred Caulkins Urban, to benefit its Knowlton School of Architecture. Before he went into medicine, Bertolo graduated from Knowlton.

Not one to ignore a double-shot of fate, Bertolo is buying the buildings for $540,000. For OSU that will replace a $7,000 annual loss on the property for the school with an expanded endowment for a professor and scholarships.

While ultimately benefitting Ohio State, Urban’s gift didn’t turn out exactly as she envisioned. It illustrates why the university carefully evaluates donations and bequests that aren’t in the form of cash and investments – gifts that range from real estate to bull semen.

“What do they want to accomplish with their gift? We start with that premise,” said Jim Hoobler, senior director for planned giving in the development office.

Urban, who died in 2003, thought the matching fieldstone house and office built by her father would be perfect for the school to house visiting scholars.

The university has rented out the office and a professor lived in the house for about two years, said Ann Pendleton-Jullian, Knowlton director. But the slate roof leaks, the bathrooms and kitchen need an overhaul and the properties aren’t compliant with disability access laws. Knowlton paid about $22,000 more on basic maintenance than it received in rent the past three years.

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